Sara and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad PSA

The Ad Council, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, has developed a series of “Online Sexual Exploitation” public service advertisements designed “to educate teenage girls about the potential dangers of posting and sharing personal information online.” You can read more about the campaign here. Now, as a general matter, given what I do for a living, I err in favor of believing that educating people is a positive thing. However, the fact that there is a whole campaign directed specifically at “teenage girls” is kind of a warning sign that there is going to be some creepy and sexist blaming and shaming going on. Remember “This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” It’s worse. Do I exaggerate? Decide for yourself.

0 Responses to Sara and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad PSA

It creeped me out, too. Now if they make one for boys, I may feel differently, but I suppose the only one they would make for boys would be homophobic. It needn’t be, though. I’d love to see one about a boy posting his sexual history and then getting on an escalator and being called a slut. Dream on, I know.

I think Diane has it exactly! “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions” seems to apply here. Untill the mindset of the general public embraces REAL eqality, the education process will be skewed. Even if this result is unintentional, it’s ugly head reveals much about our progress toward REAL wisdom!